Mahmoud Darwish

by andrewcagle

Mahmoud Darwish is the national poet of Palestine. His writing evokes images of rebirth, and communicate the emotions and identity of the wanderer.

This line of prose comes from the poem “Mural.” Seen here, the words are printed on a poster that finds its place alongside other pieces of Palestine remembered. It rests on the wall of a crude shelter built by a refugee currently living in Amman. It is symbolic of home, dispossessed, in Bethlehem. A child at the time of exile, the crude timber walls provide a living space for memories as he and his son, Yasir, wait for the wheat to grow green again.

“Your first discovery when you travel,’ wrote Elizabeth Hardwick, ‘is that you do not exist.’ In other words, it is not just the others who have been left behind; it is all of you that is known.” – House of Stone